Related Tags:

FITCHBURG (CBS) – Investigators appear to be focusing on mechanical failure as the cause of a deadly plane crash in Fitchburg.

A replica World War II Navy fighter plane crashed into the Nashua River in Fitchburg Saturday afternoon, killing the pilot, 73-year-old Melville “Reese” Dill Jr., of Weston.

Dill and a passenger took off from Hanscom Field in Bedford, but reported engine trouble.

The plane crashed trying to land at Fitchburg-Leominster Airport and ended up upside down in the Nashua River.

Dill was trapped inside. Rescuers tried desperately to free him, but he died.

WBZ-TV’s Jim Smith reports from the scene

The passenger on board survived. His father gave the flight to him and his two brothers as a gift. The brothers were taking turns as passengers.

But when Don Atkinson watched his son Larry’s flight come in, he knew there was trouble.

“I saw the plane come in, make its usual approach and then it just dropped and I saw a splash. I couldn’t believe it. I said ‘I think the plane just crashed.’ (I) ran down, my son had gotten out of the plane already,” he told WBZ-TV